Fact of the day

At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Fritz Thiedemann - who had commanded a German cavalry unit during World War Two before being captured towards the end and interned in a Russian prison camp - created a unique piece of history. The farmer's son earned bronze medals in both individual show jumping and team dressage to become the only rider in Olympic history to win medals in two equestrian disciplines at the same Games. He went on to gold medals in team jumping at the 1956 Olympics, when the equestrian events were held in Stockholm, and Rome 1960. The Thiedemann rein is named after him.

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January 12 - Influential International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Gian Franco Kasper has defended his controversial comments that a third of budget has disappeared in bribes during preparations for Sochi 2014.

Kasper, long-time President of the International Ski Federation (FIS), told Switzerland's state broadcaster SRF that Sochi 2014 had been riddled with corruption since they were awarded the Winter Olympics and Paralympics by the IOC seven years ago.

The 69-year-old from St Moritz claimed contracts were given to a "construction mafia" of businessmen closely linked to the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The contracts were given to people who already had a foot in the door," Kasper said in an interview broadcast by the Rundschau news magazine.

Boris Nemtsov, a former Russian Deputy Prime Minister-turned-Kremlin critic, alleged in a report released in May that up to $30 billion (£18 billion/€22 billion) has been stolen in the run-up to the Games.

Nemtsov welcomed Kasper's comments.

"Until now there's been no clear acknowledgement of the issue, even though the facts are widely available," he said.

"The attitude is that 'all is well' and if there's any corruption it's a problem for the host country and not the IOC.

"They are obliged to pay attention to this.

"Though there has been considerable attention to the issue of gay rights in advance of the Olympics, and the IOC has taken a stand on this, they have largely ignored corruption, environmental destruction, and other types of human rights violations that have been occurring,"

Kasper also accused Putin of staging a "PR stunt" by releasing several high-profile political prisoners like Pussy Riot singer Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and political critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky last month.

He also took a pessimistic view of the security measures for Sochi 2014 following recent terrorist attacks, claiming the need to deploy tens of thousands of police officers and troops to provide safety meant the region was "not in a great mood".

Kasper added: "The big thing with security for all events in the mountain area is that they [organisers] cut the number of spectators by almost 50 per cent in the past two years.

"That of course makes it very difficult and really does not help to create a special atmosphere."

He did admit, though, that the blanket security should ensure there will be no safety problems during the Games.

"I am convinced Sochi will be the safest place in the world during the Olympics," Kasper said.

"We know they [authorities] will be bureaucratic, not very flexible and then there is the language barrier.

"But we know that we need security.

"We know there is a terrorism problem not only in Russia but all over the world."

Kasper also claimed that the costs associated with Sochi 2014 could put off other countries from bidding for the Olympics in future.

"Those costs in Sochi are enormous and a bad example for future candidates," he said.

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This year's International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation World Championships take place from this week, but will it be a case of history repeating itself with more success for the hosts in Winterberg or will overseas athletes, specifically Olympic champions from Great Britain, Russia and Canada, continue their outstanding form to scupper Germany's chances and claim the golds? Mike Rowbottom reports.